


jungle

by moonlightpadawan



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Ahsoka Tano Needs a Hug, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Blood and Injury, Bugs & Insects, Creatures, Gen, Hurt Ahsoka Tano, Hurt Anakin Skywalker, Hurt/Comfort, Protective Ahsoka Tano, Stitches, Sweat, Whump, field medicine, injuries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:54:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28172010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlightpadawan/pseuds/moonlightpadawan
Summary: "This sucks..." Anakin heard Ahsoka mumble from behind him, as he peeled off yet another layer of his sweat-soaked robes. He agreed with his padawan: this did suck. They had been trudging through this force-forsaken jungle for what seemed like hours now, the hot and humid climate of this planet was becoming less and less tolerable each minute.[or: Anakin and Ahsoka have a terrible, no good, very bad day on a jungle planet.]
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, CT-7567 | Rex & Ahsoka Tano, CT-7567 | Rex & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 23
Kudos: 117





	1. Chapter 1

"This _sucks_..." Anakin heard Ahsoka mumble from behind him, as he peeled off yet another layer of his sweat-soaked robes. He agreed with his padawan: _this did suck_. They had been trudging through this force-forsaken jungle for what seemed like hours now, the hot and humid climate of this planet was becoming less and less tolerable each minute. He was sweating—a lot. He could feel the beads of moisture dripping down his face, his neck, his—honestly, his whole body was slicked with sweat, which was a very uncomfortable feeling to say the least.

He swung his backpack round to hang from one shoulder, loosely folded the layer of soddened clothing into the pack. He caught a whiff of the smell as he tucked the robes into the pack; a sour sort of stench. It smelled awful— _he_ smelled awful, but he didn't care, although he still winced slightly. All he could think about was the fact that he was just so _hot_.

Anakin was usually fine with the heat—he had grown up in the desert after all. But the heat he was feeling now was a different kind of heat. The air in this jungle was humid, which made everything a hundred times worse; the air was sticky and wet, coating his skin with a layer moisture, which only added to the sweat that was already seeping out of his pores.

He swung the pack around, pulled the other strap over his shoulder, took a step forward before he paused, glancing behind him.

"How're you holding up, Snips?" he asked, studying Ahsoka's form, from where she was standing a few paces behind him. She was sweating too, he could tell. Her cheeks were flushed, tiny beads of moisture were trickling down the sides of her face, her arms.

"I'm okay, i guess," Ahsoka replied, wiping the back of her hand across her forehead, to catch another trickle of sweat that had begun to drip down her face. She gave Anakin a weak half-smile, then started forward, adding: "We should keep moving."

Anakin let out a short sigh as Ahsoka swept past him, before he too started forward, jogging slightly for a few steps, until he caught up with his padawan's swift pace. "Alright, wait up."

They were trying to make their way to a rendezvous point. They're ship had crashed—or, to be more precise: Anakin crash- _landed_ the ship into the jungle. By accident. It wasn't his fault...exactly. He had been flying the ship, but he must've dozed off somehow—which he still didn't understand how he managed that, but hey, it happened. And all Anakin could remember was that he woke up to alarms blaring, smoke billowing from the engines, and an extremely panicked Ahsoka, as the jungle grew into sight across the view-screen.

Now, they were stuck on this hot, horrible jungle planet, making their way towards the rendezvous point that Rex had given them—Rex managed to give them coordinates to follow, but the transmission was abruptly cut-off before they could confirm anything, so now, all they could do was hope that they were actually going to be rescued when they arrived.

The two Jedi continued forward, trudging past moss-ridden tree trunks, bushy green leaves, and the occasional snake, which would slither around branches high above them, giving a sharp hiss, as if to remind them that they were in its territory. Anakin didn’t like that very much, so he kept an eye out as he continued to hike forward, to make sure there were no unexpected surprises; in case one of the snakes decided it didn’t want them in its territory anymore.

Anakin ignited his lightsaber and swung at a thick mass of leaves that were blocking their path. The leaves sizzled, fell to the ground, Ahsoka continued forward, trodding on the felled palm leaves.

Anakin clipped his lightsaber back onto his belt, let out a sigh. It was still so hot. And humid. The back of his shirt was wringing with sweat, and he could feel the moisture dripping down his skin, streaming down his legs. _Why did we have to get stuck on this stupid jungle planet?_ He thought to himself, as he continued to pace forward beside his padawan, who was clearly suffering as much as he was; her skin was flushed, there was sweat slicking her arms, dripping from her body. He could even see the sweat soaking through her leggings.

Anakin was lucky enough that he could just take off his layers, which he had been doing; he was down to his final layer now. But Ahsoka, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky. Her clothes were already pretty thin, so she couldn’t really take anything else off—there was nothing else she could really do.

A buzz sounded from somewhere close to Anakin's head. He waved his hand, swatted away the bug. It was some sort of bee, and it had a relatively large stinger, which he didn't really like the look of.

"Keep your eye out in case there's another one of those bees," Anakin said, scanning the area. "I don’t like the look of that stinger."

"Do you think it's venomous?" Ahsoka turned round to look at Anakin, slowing her pace, just a few steps ahead of him. The bee flew close to her head, she swatted it away.

“Mm...not sure, but i don’t want to hang around to find out.”

“Yeah,” Ahsoka replied, her eyes focused on the bee as it flew away, buzzing around a nearby branch. “That thing looks creepy.”

"Agreed."

And at that, Anakin and Ahsoka quickened their pace once again, winding their way through the dense foliage of the jungle floor beneath them.

Anakin could feel his shirt sticking to his skin from the sweat, which was pouring down his body now. It felt gross. And the unrelenting heat and sticky, moisture-filled air wasn't helping the matter. He shrugged his pack off of his back, quickly peeled the soiled shirt away from his sweaty skin.

The relief wasn't as good as he hoped it would've been, now that he had removed all his top layers, but it was still slightly better—just slightly. He tucked the shirt into the pack, closed the lid, swung the pack over his shoulders, caught back up to Ahsoka who was a few paces ahead of him.

Ahsoka craned her head towards him as he caught back into step. "How are _you_ holding up, Master?"

"I'm fine," Anakin replied. It wasn't exactly the truth though, and Ahsoka must've been able to tell because she gave him an stern look, as if to say _i don't believe you_. After a moment he added: "It feels a little better now that i'm not wearing all those layers, but it's just so hot and sticky. I just feel so..."

"Gross?" Ahsoka suggested.

"Yeah, gross. It's just—i wish it wasn't so hot."

"I feel you. I wish this heat would just go away too."

Anakin nodded. A comfortable silence fell between them as they continued to trek forward through the leafy foliage of the jungle floor. Anakin’s mouth and throat felt quite dry, he noticed. He was thirsty.

They did have some water, luckily, stored away in Ahsoka’s pack, but seeing as they didn’t know how long it would take them to reach the rendezvous, and the fact that there was only one canteen of water left, they were having to ration it carefully—to make sure the water would last long enough.

“Hey, Snips?”

“What is it, Skyguy?”

“Umm, can i have some of that water? I’m kinda thirsty.”

“Yeah, sure,” Ahsoka shrugged off her pack, started fumbling around for the canteen of water. “As long as you don’t drink all of it.”

“I’m just gonna have a sip,” he raised his arms, as if being accused. “Don’t worry.”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes, handed him the canteen of water. “Here.”

“Thanks,” he took the canteen from Ahsoka, screwed off the lid, took a sip. The water was still somewhat cool as it trickled down his throat, even with being in the sweltering heat for a few hours. He passed the canteen back to Ahsoka. “You should have a sip too, i don’t want you passing out from dehydration.”

Ahsoka took the canteen of water from Anakin. “Don’t worry,” she said, raising the canteen to her lips. She took a sip, screwed the lid back onto the canteen. “I’m not gonna pass out, i’m fine.”

“I just wanna make sure you stay that way.”

“I know,” Ahsoka replied, shoving the canteen back into her pack. “You wouldn’t want me being a burden for you.”

“Hey—i never said—”

“Shh.”

“Don’t shush me!”

“No, wait—listen.”

“What?”

“Listen...”

Anakin huffed out a breath, listened. There was a rustle coming from somewhere in the nearby foliage. A twig snapped, Anakin looked at his padawan, who had suddenly stilled, staring into the foliage.

“What is it?” he whispered.

“I’m not sure...” Ahsoka answered, without shifting her gaze. “I think—wait, i think it’s...”

“What?”

“It’s—” Ahsoka’s words were cut-off by a high pitched roar. Whatever had been hiding in the foliage—a creature, suddenly jumped out from behind the leaves—

Landing right on top of Ahsoka.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin and Ahsoka have a terrible, no good, very bad day on a jungle planet.

“Ahsoka!” Anakin ignited his lightsaber, as the creature—some sort of bird-like animal with sharp claws, a large beak, and fierce orange eyes, pounced on Ahsoka, forcing her to the ground.

Anakin darted forward, just as Ahsoka force-pushed the creature away from her, causing it to fly backwards, slamming against a tree.

The creature screeched, and as soon as it regained its balance, bolted forward straight towards Ahsoka, who had just managed to her feet, igniting her lightsabers.

The creature attempted to pounce on Ahsoka again, but she dodged out the way, it’s sharp claws just missing her face by a few inches. It skidded across the ground, turned round, growled fiercely, as it stared them down with its glaring orange eyes.

Anakin made it to Ahsoka's side, gave her a nod, before the creature came scrambling towards them. In a big flash, the creature went tumbling to the ground, as Anakin and Ahsoka swung their lightsabers, striking the creature down. The creature bellowed as it sank to the floor, the smell of charred flesh flooded into the air.

Holding his breath, Anakin stepped forward, nudged the creature with his foot, checking to see wether it was dead or not. The creature didn't move; it lay lifeless on the jungle floor—it was dead. Anakin exhaled in relief, shut down his lightsaber, clipped it back onto his belt.

"Are you okay?" he asked, turning to Ahsoka. "That was a close one."

"Yeah," Ahsoka replied, brushing the dirt and various leaves off of herself, which must've stuck to her clothes when she was knocked down. "I'm fine...i think."

As he considered his padawan, Anakin noticed a stream of blood was beginning to trickle down Ahsoka's arm. As he moved closer, he could see that it was coming from a cut, in the middle of her right bicep—it looked like a claw mark. 

Ahsoka must have noticed where he was staring, because she craned her head to look down at her arm.

"Oh," she said, gawking at the cut. "That's..."

"Let me see," Anakin padded closer to Ahsoka, took hold of her arm, studied the cut. The cut looked quite deep, but he couldn't tell for sure, as there was too much blood surrounding the wound. "Umm, we'll need to get this cleaned up."

Ahsoka nodded, but her eyes were still transfixed to the cut. Anakin guided her head away from the wound, to look at him instead—he didn't want her to start feeling dizzy.

"Hey, don't look at it...it might make you dizzy."

Ahsoka opened her mouth, as if to protest, but something stopped her. She nodded instead.

"Come sit down, okay," Anakin tugged Ahsoka down to sit on the ground, beside a moss covered log. He shrugged off his pack, set it down next to Ahsoka. "Here, let me take this..." he carefully removed Ahsoka's pack from her shoulders, making sure to not touch her wound, then placed it on the ground beside them. "There."

Anakin opened Ahsoka's pack and dug around to find the medkit. “Does it hurt?” he asked, pulling the medkit out of the pack, once he eventually found it.

“A little,” Ahsoka breathed, tilting her head to rest on the log. “It’s not too bad.”

"Okay," Anakin opened the medkit, searched for a gauze. “That’s good to hear.”

As soon as he found the gauze, Anakin reached back into the pack, grabbed the canteen of water—he needed to use some of the water to clean Ahsoka’s cut, even though it meant that they would have even less water to drink. It would be a necessary sacrifice.

“Okay, Snips,” Anakin moved forward, holding the gauze and canteen of water, positioned himself in front of Ahsoka’s arm. “I’m just gonna clean this, okay.”

“Okay.”

“Just tell me if it hurts,” Anakin eyed the cut. He opened the lid of the canteen, poured a small amount of water onto the gauze—just enough to soakit through. He set the canteen down, then placed his hand just above Ahsoka’s elbow, gently holding her arm in place. And, with a breath, he brought the gauze up to the wound and began to meticulously clean the blood from Ahsoka’s skin, using gentle, fleeting movements.

Ahsoka’s breath hitched slightly, as he drew closer to the cut. Anakin looked up briefly. “Alright?”

“Yeah,” she replied, closing her eyes. “I’m fine, Skyguy.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, i’m fine.”

“Alright,” Anakin breathed, bringing his focus back to cleaning the wound. He cleaned away all of the blood that was streaming down her arm, so now all that remained was a deep, ugly-looking gash in the middle of her bicep. Anakin studied the wound closely—it looked pretty deep, and blood was still oozing out from the cut. His heart sank.

She was going to need stitches.

“How bad is it?” Ahsoka asked, lifting her head from where it had been resting on the log.

When Anakin looked up at his padawan’s face, he felt a pang in his chest. “It’s pretty deep...it’s going to need stitches.”

“Stitches?!” Ahsoka’s eyes widened, she dropped her head back to rest on the log. “Great.”

“I’m sorry, Snips,” Another pang ran through Anakin’s chest. He didn’t want to have to do this, but there wasn’t really any other option—especially with the fact that they were stuck in the middle of a jungle, on a random planet, the nearest medical facility probably light-years away. “It’s just too deep to leave it open like that...and we don’t really have any other option right now.”

After a long moment, which seemed to stretch for an eternity, Ahsoka let out a brief sigh. "Alright, let's just get it over with."

“Are you sure, cause—”

“Yes. Just do it...i’ll be fine.”

“I wish there was another option, but...”

“It’s fine,” Ahsoka gave Anakin a weak smile. “Just do what you have to do.”

“Alright,” Anakin lowered his head, reached for the medkit. He rummaged through all the medical supplies, until he found the suture kit. He prepared everything as quickly as he could—he wanted to get this over and done with as much as Ahsoka probably did.

As soon as he had threaded the needle, he looked up at his padawan, who was resting her head on the log beside them. “It’s gonna hurt. Are you sure you’ll be able to handle it?”

Ahsoka dazedly lifted her head, looked at Anakin. “Yeah...just get it over with,” she muttered.

“Okay,” Anakin paused for a moment, then reached down to the medkit, took out a fresh gauze. He handed it to Ahsoka. “Bite down on this, it’ll help with the pain.”

“Okay,” Ahsoka accepted the gauze from Anakin, lifted it up to her mouth, attempted to bite down on it. “Like this?” her voice came out all muffled—Anakin would have laughed if they were under different circumstances.

"Yeah," Anakin said, shooting Ahsoka a lopsided grin. “Like that.”

His grin quickly faded though, as his gaze shifted back down to the needle he was holding in his hand. He felt his heart sink a little further, realising exactly what he was about to do. _I’m sorry, Ahsoka._

“Okay,” Anakin shifted himself closer to Ahsoka, took hold of her arm. He could feel her pulse heightening under his touch, beating faster in anticipation. “Are you ready, Snips?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t look at it, okay—it might make the pain worse.”

“Okay.”

“And if you need me to stop, just tell me, alright.”

Ahsoka hummed in acknowledgment. Anakin brought the needle closer to her arm. “Okay, here goes...”

And with that, he made his first stitch. As soon as the needle pierced through her skin, Ahsoka rolled her head back, let out a pained groan. The sound grated against Anakin’s ears. _I’m sorry, Snips_.

Anakin worked quickly, making sure to keep his hands steady as he made each stitch, pulling the edges of the wound closer together.

He managed to stitch it up just about half-way, when Ahsoka suddenly let out a sharp, strangled cry. She grabbed hold of Anakin’s wrist.

“Stop!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter :)
> 
> I will hopefully get the next chapter up at some point within the next week. We’ll just have to see how long it takes me to finish it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin and Ahsoka have a terrible, no good, very bad day on a jungle planet.

"Okay, i've stopped," Anakin said calmly, lifting his hand away from Ahsoka's arm as gently as he could, ignoring how tightly Ahsoka was holding his wrist. "I've stopped."

Ahsoka was breathing fast and hard, her breath stuttering, staring up at Anakin with wide eyes. She choked out a sob. Her head rolled forward, bumping against Anakin's shoulder.

"It really hurts," she whined. Anakin could feel her breath against his skin. "It _hurts_."

Anakin felt something trickle down his skin. At first, he thought it was just sweat, but then he realised no, it wasn't sweat; it was tears—Ahsoka was crying.

"Hey, hey," Anakin breathed, craning his neck to look down at Ahsoka's form, shuddering against his shoulder. "You're doing great, Snips. It's already stitched up halfway. There's only a little bit to go."

Ahsoka lifted her head, and with a few quiet sniffles, she wiped at her eyes, nodded. "Okay."

"Just breathe," Anakin gave her a gentle smile. “Breathe with me. Like when we’re meditating together; center on my breath.” 

Anakin began centering his breath, feeling the air flow in and out of his lungs, breathing deep and even breaths. Ahsoka closed her eyes, began to breathe deeper, slowly matching her breath with Anakin’s. At first, Ahsoka’s breaths were still fast and uneven, but as time went on, she began to relax; her breaths slowed and evened out. The hunch in her shoulders relaxed.

"That's it—just breathe."

Ahsoka continued to breathe. Anakin sent waves of calm and peace through their bond, hoping that it would help her relax and calm down, maybe even relieve some of her pain. Her breath still stuttered slightly, but soon her breath was as calm and steady as Anakin's; it was as if they were breathing as one.

Ahsoka took a few more moments to calm her breathing, before she glanced down, noticed her hand around Anakin’s wrist. “Sorry,” she let go of Anakin’s wrist. “I...”

“It’s okay, don’t be sorry,” Anakin lifted Ahsoka’s chin, met her gaze. “You’re doing really well for someone who’s getting stitches with no medication in the middle of a jungle.”

Ahsoka huffed out a small laugh. The sound was brief, quiet, but it was enough to put Anakin’s worries at ease—even just slightly.

“Are you okay?” Anakin watched as Ahsoka leaned back against the log. She looked calmer now, her features more relaxed—well, as relaxed as they could be for someone who was having to get stitches, with no pain medication to ease the affliction. "Do you want me to continue?"

"Yeah,” Ahsoka nodded. “Let's just get this over with."

"You sure? I can give you another minute if you need it."

"Yeah, i'm sure. I'll be alright."

"Definitely sure?"

"Mmhm," Ahsoka hummed, resting her head on the log. She reached a hand up to her mouth, readjusted the gauze, bit down on it again, preparing herself for the onslaught of pain Anakin knew she was about to receive.

"Okay," Anakin breathed. He reached for Ahsoka's arm, felt her pulse beating under his fingertips, as he held her arm steady. He glanced up at Ahsoka's face. "Alright?"

Ahsoka nodded.

"Okay," Anakin set his eyes on the half-stitched wound. He brought the needle up to her arm. "Let's get this over with..."

Anakin continued stitching from where he left off, pulling together the sides of the gash, with each stitch. Ahsoka winced, let out a tight groan. _Sorry Snips_. She was handling herself pretty well for the amount of pain she was going through, but still, Anakin felt her tense up more and more, every time the needle pierced through her skin.

"You're doing great, Snips," Anakin whispered. "We're almost there, just hang on a little bit longer."

Ahsoka responded with a small whine, mixed with a groan. Anakin wasn't sure if she meant to do that, but seeing as she was in a lot of pain, she probably couldn’t help it.

Anakin stitched up the rest of the wound, pulling the sides of the gash fully together, as he threaded the last stitch into place. Ahsoka had her eyes squeezed shut at this point, releasing slow, controlled breaths in an effort to manage the pain.

“There. All done.”

Anakin breathed a sigh of relief, as he eyed his work. He did pretty well, considering the circumstances—the stitches were all evenly spread, bar a few of them at the end, which looked a little messy because he had sped up at that point, trying to finish stitching quicker for Ahsoka’s sake.

“I’m really proud of you, Snips,” Anakin said, lightly placing his hand on Ahsoka’s uninjured shoulder. “I know that must’ve been really painful.” Ahsoka opened her eyes, released a shaky breath. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. "I'm alright."

“You sure?”

“Yeah, i’m sure.” Anakin gave her a questioning look. “I’m okay, Master—really.”

“Alright.” Anakin reached down to the medkit. “Let’s see if there’s any bacta patches left in here to cover that. I don’t want it getting infected.” He rummaged through all the medical supplies, until he finally found a bacta patch, hidden away at the bottom of the box. It was only one left.

“It’s the last one,” Anakin began to tear open the wrapper, looked up at Ahsoka. “Hopefully we won’t need to use any more of these, because if we do, there won’t be any left. I’m sure we won’t, though.”

Anakin glanced a smile to Ahsoka, as he peeled the bacta patch from its wrapper. He quickly placed the patch over the freshly-stitched gash, gently smoothed it over, sticking it into place. “There. Does it still hurt?”

“Only a little,” Ahsoka craned her neck, glanced down at the bacta patch. “It’s fine.”

"Okay," Anakin started, but then he heard, more than felt, his stomach rumble. He realised that he hadn’t eaten anything since...actually, he couldn’t remember the last time he ate. And if he was hungry, then Ahsoka was probably hungry too. Even if she wasn’t hungry, she should definitely eat something anyway, especially because she just got stitches. "I think we should..." he trailed off, because now Ahsoka was trying to stand up, lifting herself up from the log. "Wait—what are you doing?"

“We need to keep moving.”

“No. Sit down, you need to eat something first.”

“But—”

“Don’t argue with me, Snips,” Anakin tugged at Ahsoka’s hand, tried to pull her back down. “Sit.”

“But—”

“ _Sit_.”

Ahsoka sat back down. Anakin reached into his pack, pulled out a ration bar, handed it to Ahsoka. “Eat.”

Thankfully, Ahsoka accepted the ration bar and began to eat, while Anakin tidied away all the medical supplies and placed the medkit back into Ahsoka’s pack.

Anakin sat himself down against the log, next to Ahsoka, pulled out a ration bar for himself. His stomach rumbled again. He was hungry after all that walking...and stitching. But almost as soon as he sat down, Ahsoka was rising to her feet, hauling her pack over her uninjured shoulder.

Anakin let out a long sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry that i took so long to update this, but now i will be back to updating regularly. The next chapter will be up next week.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin and Ahsoka have a terrible, no good, very bad day on a jungle planet.

"Snips, wait,” Anakin sighed, watching as his padawan shrugged her pack over her shoulder. “Are you sure you don’t want to just sit and have a rest for a few minutes? You did just get stitches, and i want to make sure that you’re fine before we keep moving. I wouldn’t want you to pass out on me.”

“I’m _fine_ , Master,” Ahsoka replied, crossing her arms. The movement made her wince slightly, and Anakin raised his eyebrow.

“Really?” Anakin said. “Because that reaction tells me otherwise.”

“I doesn’t hurt—i didn’t mean to do that,” Ahsoka sputtered. She rubbed her arm, just below where the bacta patch was placed. Anakin narrowed his eyes. “I’m fine. Really.”

“Even if you’re fine, i still think it would be a good idea for you to rest for a few minutes,” Anakin said, after taking a bite of his ration bar. His voice was a little muffled from chewing. “We’ve been moving for hours. You deserve a little rest.”

Ahsoka shook her head lightly and tapped her foot. “I know, but we should really keep moving. We don’t know how long it’s gonna take to reach the rendezvous, and at this rate we’re probably gonna have to spend the night in this jungle.”

“Believe me, i wanna get off this planet as much as you do, but if you don’t take a little rest, then you’re probably not gonna be awake to make it off this rock.” Anakin replied. Ahsoka lowered her head, rubbed her arm. “And besides, we’re probably going to have to spend the night here regardless.”

Ahsoka sighed, then glanced up at Anakin. Anakin gave her a gentle smile. “Come sit,” he said, patting the ground beside him. “Just for a few minutes.” When Ahsoka still didn’t reply, making the best ‘puppy-dog eyes’ look he could muster, he added: “Please?”

The puppy-dog look must’ve worked, because a small smile formed on Ahsoka’s lips. “Fine,” she sighed, rolling her eyes. And then she padded over to Anakin, dropped the pack from her shoulders, and sat herself against the log. Anakin grinned.

–––

After they rested for a few minutes, _which turned into ten minutes due to the fact that Anakin decided to take a little power-nap (it was worth it though, as Anakin woke up feeling somewhat refreshed afterwards)_ , the Master and Padawan pair set off again on their path through the jungle, heading in the direction of the rendezvous point, where they would hopefully be picked up by Obi-Wan and Rex...hopefully.

“Ughh, why did we have to crash on a jungle planet?” Ahsoka whined, as she swung her lightsaber to clear back a string of vines blocking the path. Anakin moved in beside her, trampling the fallen vines as they sizzled on the jungle floor. “It’s so hot...and sweaty. Why couldn’t we have landed on a nice, cool ice planet? Oh what i would give to be on Hoth right now...”

“I feel you,” Anakin breathed. “I wish we could be somewhere cooler too, but remember—”

“I know, i know,” Ahsoka cut in. “I need to “keep my mind in the here and now”—i know, it’s just...the “here and now” is too hot.”

“I know, Snips,” Anakin chuckled. “It is really hot.”

Ahsoka stopped walking, and grimaced as she wiped off some of the sweat that was practically dripping from her arms from the heat. Anakin halted too, and looking at Ahsoka, he noticed that there was a lot of sweat surrounding the bacta patch that was covering her stitches.

"Is it still sticking to your arm?" Anakin asked. He was worried that with how much she was sweating, the sweat might get under the bacta patch and stop it from being properly sealed, or worse, make it fall off completely.

Ahsoka tested to see wether the bacta patch was stuck down properly or not, then glanced up. "I think it's still sealed for now, but i don't know how long it will stay sealed. Not with all this sweat...ughh." Ahsoka shook her hand, shaking off the sweat, a few droplets flew through the air, and one particularly large droplet flew straight into Anakin's eye.

"Ughh," Anakin grimaced, rubbing his eye. "You just got some of your sweat _in my eye_!"

"Sorry," Ahsoka cringed. Anakin blinked a few times. But each time he blinked, a stinging, burning sensation began to build up in his eye.

"It stings!"

As the stinging sensation continued to heighten, his eye started watering. He rubbed his eye again but it just caused more sweat to into his eye, which just made his eye sting even more. "Kriff!"

"Are you _crying_?"

"No!”

“Then why—”

“Just get me something to wipe my eye with."

“Like what?”

“I don’t know...something dry—get my robe from out of my pack,” Anakin said, turning round so that Ahsoka could reach into his pack. “Hurry—it stings!”

“Okay, okay,” Ahsoka chuckled. “I’m hurrying.” Anakin felt her digging around in his pack, and a moment later she pushed his robe into his hand. “Here.”

“Thanks.”

Anakin wiped at his eye with the fabric of his robe, rubbing away the sweat. It seemed to do the job because the stinging sensation faded into just a slight irritation, and his eye stopped watering.

Since he was holding his robe, Anakin took the opportunity to wipe away the sweat from the rest of his body, wiping down his face, arms, chest, back. When he was wiping his right arm, he noticed that a lot of sweat had gathered around his prosthetic, and looking closely, he could see that some of the sweat had already seeped into some of the servos and motors, but since he could still move his hand, he figured he didn’t need to worry about it.

Ahsoka did the same as Anakin, wiping the sweat from her skin with her own robe, which she took out of her pack.

“Ahh...that feels better,” Ahsoka breathed, after stuffing her robe back into her pack. Anakin agreed—it did feel better, now that most of the sweat wasn’t sticking and sliding around his skin anymore. Although, because it was still so hot in this jungle, he could feel a new layer of sweat beginning to form, seeping from his pores. But still, it was a relief to at least be able to let his skin breathe for a little while—even if it was only for a few minutes.

“I can’t believe you were _crying_ because you got sweat in your eye,” Ahsoka grinned, shaking her head.

“Hey, i wasn’t _crying_ —my eye was _watering_ ,” Anakin countered. “That’s what happens when you get something in your eye. It _waters_.”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes.

“And besides; it stung.”

“Don’t you think you were being a little dramatic about it? It couldn’t have hurt that bad.”

“I wasn’t being—i mean...fine. Maybe i was being a little dramatic, but it was _you_ who flung your sweat into _my_ eye.”

“And i apologise for that,” Ahsoka smiled, before poking Anakin in the ribs. “But you were still being dramatic.”

“Hey!”

Ahsoka raised a questioning eyebrow. Anakin let out a long sigh.

“Fine,” Anakin sighed. “I was being a _little_ dramatic. You happy now?”

Ahsoka nodded, with a grin. Anakin rolled his eyes.

“Come on, let’s keep moving.”

They trudged through the jungle for around twenty minutes, before they reached a clearing in the trees. The sky was turning different shades of orange, pink and purple, which danced across the sky, creating a beautiful gradient of colour as the sun began to set upon the horizon. The ground was changing from that of the green, leafy foliage, present on the jungle floor to an auburn-grey rocky surface beneath the Jedi’s feet, as they made their way out of the trees, and into the clearing.

They only padded a few metres further, before Anakin came to an abrupt stop.

Because there, in the middle of the clearing, lay a large ravine, which seemed to stretch as far to the right and left as the eye could see.

 _Kriff_.

"Master..."

Anakin glanced down to his side to see Ahsoka, face full of concern, as she stared up at him with wide eyes. She was biting her lip; a habit of hers that always seems to emerge when she's nervous.

"I know, Ahsoka," Anakin breathed, giving her a knowing look, before turning back to face the view in front of them. "I know."

The ravine didn't look too wide across-the-way, but it would still be too far to attempt any sort of jump across to the other side; which was where they needed to go if they wanted to reach the rendezvous point.

 _Kriff_.

Anakin padded closer to the edge of the ravine, feeling Ahsoka following closely behind. He could see down to the bottom of the ravine, which was a good thing, because it meant that if they couldn’t find any other way to get round, it was shallow enough to allow them to climb down to the bottom and up the other side of the ravine. Although it would be risky, considering the fact that neither of them have any climbing equipment with them. They would have to free climb.

“Master, do you think...” Ahsoka started, but trailed off. Anakin turned to look at Ahsoka, but almost as soon as he turned, there was a loud _crack_.

To Anakin's horror, the ground underneath Ahsoka was beginning to crack, fragments of rock and dirt were breaking apart, crumbling away beneath her feet.

"Ahsoka!" Anakin exclaimed, rushing forward to grab hold of Ahsoka's arms before she could tumble down into the ravine, with the rocks and dirt.

"Master!"

Anakin reached out, his fingertips brushed against Ahsoka's hand, he almost had her—but then the ground beneath her completely crumbled away. Her hand slipped from his grasp.

And Anakin watched Ahsoka fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, i guess i left this on a bit of a cliffhanger...
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed. Next chapter is up next week.
> 
> edit: Sorry that i haven’t updated this for literally a month. I’ve been busy with school and working on some other things, i’m still going to try to update this but it won’t be as regularly. 
> 
> But don’t worry, i’m still going to finish this. I’ll just be updating whenever i can. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading <3
> 
> I’m not sure how long this fic will be, but i have a lot of ideas so we’ll see. I will probably update this quite regularly (weekly, i guess) and i may even get the next chapter out within the next few days, depending on when i get it finished. Anyways, hope you enjoy!
> 
> Go follow my Star Wars tumblr (if you want) : @ahsokryze


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